Law Firm Leaks Facebook/ConnectU Settlement

The ConnectU (formerly Harvard Connect) vs. Facebook lawsuit was dragged out for far too long; and when the case was finally settled, the documents were sealed and supposed to be kept confidential. As far as we were concerned it was case closed; Facebook paid up likely a lot, but other than that, why fret over the particulars when we were never going to know for sure, anyway?

It looks as though a law firm that represented ConnectU has “accidentally” leaked how much Mark Zuckerberg and co. paid out as part of the settlement. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver&Hedges, a California-based lawfirm, sent out its newsletter detailing the firm’s successes. Claiming “it’s our opponents who need a bailout,” the company’s list includes “WON $65 million settlement against Facebook.” Oops.

While this is being labeled an accident, we’re not so easily convinced. According to legal news site, Cal Law Chairman John Quinn asked the Recorder not to disclose the amount, citing the confidentiality provision. That said, isn’t it common sense to check whether the details of a settlement are confidential before you put out the monthly newsletter? And with such a high-profile case, we’d assume the company wouldn’t forget too quickly.

In 2004 ConnectU filed a lawsuit against Facebook, claiming that Zuckerberg had broken an oral contract with the ConnectU founders to build the Facebook site. According to ConnectU founders, Zuckerberg copied their idea and used source code that belonged to them. The parties reached a confidential settlement agreement in February 2008. Emanuel Urquhart Oliver&Hedges and ConnectU are currently in the middle of a legal battle of their own. The firm claims that ConnectU owes $13 million in fees which sort of throws more weight behind the theory that it wasn’t an accident. Oops, indeed.